This was an amazing climb on a spectacular day. Lori, Jim, Andy, Sandeep, and all -- here are my photos:

http://hep-www.colorado.edu/~proulx/mypictures/arapahopeaks/

I'll get them organized and post some here soon.

There was some rockfall and icefall in the couloir - there's a cornice at the top invisible from below. Stay away from the debris trail and wear your helmet! The ridge was spectacular. I watched several natural wet slab avalanches down the east side, including one that started a few steps away from me. Careful out there.

Extremely warm (hot even) day. Saw dozens and dozens of wet slides, even triggered a couple below Arapaho Saddle with only a baseball sized rock lobbed into the snow. Great hike, great company, great views...

During the run-up to the first Gulf War, and the dissolution of my relationship with the Univeristy of Colorado, Boulder, I decided to take a day off and walk up these two peaks, which are so striking from the plains outside Boulder. It's a beautiful hike, the third class ridge is fun. Too bad the Arapahoe Glacier is off-limits. It would make a good ski run.

Did the traverse today, what a great route. The crux slab is overrated in my opinion... I'm 5'6 and I pulled myself up with just my hands on the shelf and a tiny bit of traction from my hiking shoes. The slab is maybe 6 1/2 feet high on its right side. The crux for me was downclimbing the slabby face to avoid the 7 ft. notch right near the end of the route.

We had a great time hiking up South Arapahoe and traversing to North Arapahoe. We started at 7:15 and just made it back to the car before the thunderstorm started. I cannot believe how many people were just starting at the trailhead with dark clouds all over the place. No wonder so many people get hit by lightning each year.

We finished our month in the Indian Peaks with the Arapaho Peaks. The traverse was a hoot, and the climb of "Old Baldy" was worth it for the view of the Arapahos alone! A trip report is available here.

Climbed with my sister after camping at Buckingham campground. Made the south summit after 2.5 hours. Stayed on top for an hour fighting marmots, and headed down, as she was not very interested in the traverse. Great climb. I'll certainly be back for the traverse soon.

Despite the light snowfall the night before and the startlingly strong winds, we persevered. Started from 4th-of-July at 8am with Justin and Kristie van Voorst and Nathan Smith. Surprisingly stout weather above TL. Made it to the summit of South Arapaho with little trouble after a steep climb from the col. van Voorsts turned back here leaving Nathan and I to traverse the ridge. Definitely looked worse than it was and was conciderably easier in every way than the nearby Neva north ridge. Snow and strong cross-winds made going a little more challenging, but not as much as I'd expected. Some route-finding challenges along the way. Total there-and-back time from S peak was 2.5 hours. Descent through lessening winds and melting snow. Arrived back at the car at 4:30.

Route Climbed: Standard North to South ridge traverse Date Climbed: August 2, 2003

Both peaks are very rewarding in themselves, but the true gem of courage is the ridge traverse. The beginning of the ridge from the south peak is rather inviting, but sooner or later it throws you a few class 3 curveballs. Although there is only 100 feet of elevation gain between the peaks, its sure takes a lot of work. August was perfect, the only snow on the mountain was the glacier itself.

Route Climbed: Standard traverse of South and North Arapaho Date Climbed: 6-12-2003

My friend Josh and I climbed these two wonderful mountains on a perfect day in June. Personally i was a bit aprehensive concerning getting both summits. Recently in Colorado the thunderheads start building at 11:00 a.m. and are full blown within 2 hours or less. I'm talking no clouds to lightning in less than two hours! The ridge traverse takes about 1hour and twenty minutes, one way. So needless to say I was feeling a bit uneasy when the cloud buildup began as we started our traverse. As we summited North Arapaho those clouds began to drift away over the Denver area and we had great weather for the rest of the day. Here is a trip report.

The class 3 route from South to North Arapahoe Peaks make this mountain a favorite. A great get in shape hike for something like Long's Peak. Challenging but do-able. We climbed during the peak of the wildfires this summer so the views we had weren't very good. I would like to go back under better conditions.

In this year of abnormally low snow, early June conditions ranged from near ice, to slushy unprotectable mush, to perfect styrofoam. It changed every hundred feet. The quote-unquote "easy" finish looked tougher than Princess Leia, so we went the Princess way. It was only four feet wide at places. A hidden cornice at the top finished off an exciting climb!